On Your Side
by xsourwolfy
Summary: Jackson must leave with his pack, leaving Stiles heartbroken. He begins to reminisce about the memories and moments they have shared together. [Stackson one shot.]


The front door made a sickening creak as it was pried open in haste. Striding through the threshold of the loft, the blonde male stopped in his tracks; hesitation in his timid steps. He wanted to stay, to ignore his calling to the wild pack which was eager for his initiation. Before he could move forward, a tight tug was given to his arm, twirling him around to face the brunette across the small distance between the pair.

"Wait. Please, tell me why you have to do this." The brunette pleaded, chestnut hues swirling with confusion.

Jackson's eyes swiveled away from Stiles', unable to respond immediately. He swallowed thickly in an attempt to shove back every emotion residing within his veins - every emotion and instinct which told him to run far from Derek Hale's evergrowing pack.

"Please," Stiles pleaded a second time, hopeful this would cause his lover to crack.

Jaw clenched, Jackson was still strong enough to ignore the attempts Stiles shot his direction. Though, he couldn't handle the pressure much longer. He yanked his arm free from the brunette's hold, taking a step backwards to distance himself further.

"No. I just have to go." He finally spoke up, though his voice didn't come out nearly as firm as he had wanted it to. "The pack is waiting for me." He added after a momentary pause filling the home.

Stiles' eyes flared with slight anger though pain raged within them as Jackson's cold demeanor was beginning to come forward in full force. As Jackson spun around and took his exit, Stiles stood there speechless for a moment. His eyes followed the blonde, a free hand quickly running down his face before he scrambled to follow. The leaner male was met with the chill of the night, having left the comfort of his hoodie inside to pursue his significant other.

"Fuck the pack, Jackson!" He blurted out rather haphazardly. "I _need_ you to tell me why."

At Stiles' shrill voice, Jackson froze. He couldn't remember the last time Stiles had been so abrupt with him. Sighing heavily, his shoulders became rigid before he faced Stiles once more. "Because I have to! Or they'll-" He swallowed a large lump as he cut himself off.

"They'll what?!" Stiles barked back.

"They'll kill you, you idiot! And your father!" Jackson revealed.

Stiles stood there stunned, his brow crinkling gently at the reveleation. "What?"

Jackson's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's what's the problem! And no, you can't fix it! So, go back inside and let me go!" The athlete demanded, a pang of hurt shattering his firm voice with a quiver.

"..You're serious."

"Yes! Go on." Jackson pushed, further distancing himself from Stiles though every inch of his body and every bone within himself writhed with guilt.

Stiles gave Jackson one last pleading look, biting his lip as tears began to well behind his eyes. He stood there silently, which was something out of character for Stiles Stilinski. Still, he couldn't throw his father into the crosshairs no matter the circumstances he'd have to face on his own.

Jackson gave him an almost apologetic look but quickly wiped it away with another icy stare before he tore his gaze and looked off into the distance. "It's better this way." He mumbled and shoved his hands deep into the comforts of his pockets before taking his leave. His footsteps were hurried as he tried to get himself as far from Stiles as he could and as quickly as possible. The lacrosse player wasn't going to put Stiles' life in danger any further or John's for that matter.

As Stiles watched Jackson's form slink away into the darkness, he could feel his heart shattering into tiny, jagged bits and pieces. Memories flooded his mind, good and bad, but there was one thing that remained true and he couldn't stop the words from echoing in the back of his head. Tears streamed down his face before they splashed down onto the concrete and Stiles choked back a painful sob in the frosty winter night.

 **PAST**

Laughter poured throughout the busy street, the blonde and brunette stumbling out of the local sushi joint. As the buzzing and lively restraunt was left behind, the pair continued to laugh almost hysterically while they tried to pace themselves in their walk home. Stiles' face was flushed with delight, his eyes bright and beaming as Jackson continued to chuckle, mirroring Stiles' delight.

"It wasn't that funny." Stiles protested.

"It was. It was." Jackson answered, another bark of laughter flinging from his mouth.

Stiles followed suit. "Shut up."

Jackson tried to calm himself down but maybe the sake had hit his blood a little too hard. It took a few moments as they both tried to remain composed, though Jackson had faired much better than Stiles. Out of breath from laughing, he inhaled sharply. Tugging at Stiles, he looped a muscular arm around the slender male's body, pulling him to his side slowly. "I think your misinterpretation of Japanese is cute." The blonde admitted.

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't even be surprised that you know how to speak it fluently." It was a no-brainer that Jackson wasn't the dumb jock stereotype many had believed in high school and he'd always gone far above and beyond expectations with his school work.

"No, you shouldn't." Jackson chuckled a bit.

"Did I really mispronounce it that bad?" Stiles felt almost sheepish, though he slightly chuckled at himself.

"Yes." Jackson responded, smirking at his boyfriend.

"Next time, we're just going for pizza. It's a much easier choice for people unfamiliar with the Japanese dialect." Stiles quickly shrugged off his embarassment.

"Let's get to the subway before we have to wait another hour." Jackson reminded the brunette, tilting his head towards the direction of the subway station.

As they carried on, it didn't take too long to get to their destination. Jackson could feel his buzz beginning to simmer, though Stiles still seemed drunk enough for the both of them. After Jackson climbed onto the subway and took a seat, he waited for Stiles to join him. He could see Stiles' general sense of awareness was still quite off and the blonde helped lead him to a seat.

As the brunette suddenly laughed again at the night they shared, he was quick to stop though Jackson was teasing him. "I don't feel so good." Stiles suddenly blurted. It was too late and he was unable to control himself before he got sick all over the floor of the subway train. Embarassment flushed his face, his features completely shocked as his eyes were glossed over in a drunken haze.

Jackson's laughter ceased and he could see the stares of the other occupants. Worse, he could see the dread crossing Stiles' face.

"Hey, hey." The blonde took Stiles' face into his hands firmly, though they laid gently on either of his cheeks. "It doesn't matter, Stiles."

"But I- But I just threw up all over the damn place." Stiles returned, pointing out the rather obvious.

"Who cares?" Jackson brushed it off, trying to comfort the brunette. "I'm _always_ on your side." Jackson finished, his voice filled with a compassionate tone.

Stiles stared back at Jackson in slight awe before he moved a freehand to meet one of Jackson's on his cheek.

 **PRESENT**

Months had passed since Jackson's departure and Stiles couldn't help but wander the streets in one of the blonde's old shirts and one of his jackets. The ink had long since faded from the amount of times Stiles had worn it. While his face was usually clean shaven, it now was riddled with stubble and he looked slightly disheveled. He ran a freehand down his face as his eyes hung low to the ground. Halting in his tracks, he froze at the familiar sushi joint. Shoving back his emotions, Stiles continued on his journey to nowhere, the gloomy night the only thing to keep him company. He had to wonder though, was Jackson out there thinking of him tonight?

 **PAST**

Everything had blown up quicker than he'd recalled. First it was a misplaced cup in the dish washer that had broken, then it was the fact he was late to important games at times, then it was that they didn't go out as often as Jackson had liked anymore due to their busy schedules.

"Look, I'm sorry! My dad's had me working later at the station. We're working on a murder case, you know that." Stiles apologized, though he didn't understand where this was all coming from. He still didn't understand how Jackson had managed to pack a few of his bags in the time they were arguing about things that seemed tedious to Stiles.

"It's not about that!" Jackson shot back, stubborn as he ever was. He crammed another shirt into the third duffle bag and zipped it hastily before tossing it next to the other two that had collected near the front door of their loft.

"Wait a second, does it really have to come to this? Over a cup? A few late games?"

"Yes, Stiles! It's called fighting!" Jackson huffed annoyed, giving him a slight glare.

"I don't understand how it.. um, how it got to this." Stiles replied, completely unsure where this was going though he didn't want it to progress any further than it already had. It didn't take long for Stiles to cave in, not wanting to fight anymore than he'd already had.

Pacing over to the fourth bag on the couch, he began to collect the last few articles of clothing which laid splayed across the furnishings and tucked them neatly into the last bag Jackson had strewn onto the floor. Zipping it up, he shuffled over to the already made bags and placed it with the others. Peering up at Jackson, chestnut orbs met with emerald and he looked at his boyfriend softly.

"I don't want to fight with you, Jackson." Stiles began. "You can leave if you want." He added after a small pause, hesitating a moment. "But remember, I'm _always_ on your side." Stiles repeated the words Jackson once spoke when he'd needed the reassurance desperately.

Jackson's brow furrowed a moment at Stiles' choice of words. He recalled them clearly and he knew they were coming from the heart. Shaking his head slightly, he dropped his anger almost instantly, realizing just how foolish it really was, though he wanted to address certain issues with Stiles, regardless of the outcome of the argument. Quickly, he closed the large gap between himself and his boyfriend, tugging him in closely before his lips crashed into Stiles'. Jade hues closed on key and he kissed the brunette with as much passion as he could manage.

Stiles was taken back for a moment though he preferred this outcome as opposed to another. He returned the kiss eagerly, his arms looping instinctively around Jackson's athletic frame. Pulling away slowly, he left his forehead against Jackson's, inhaling his scent as they stood in the middle of the entrance to the loft.

 **PRESENT**

Walking by the old familiar loft, Stiles heaved out a deeply rooted sigh from within the depths of his chest. Three years had now passed since Jackson's departure with the Hale pack. Still, he couldn't find it within himself to move on, regardless of his location change. He was always led back right to the loft where the pair had spent the year after college. He'd had so many aspirations and dreams at the time, and all of them had laid with Jackson in his heart. How was he to move on from that?

So many things had changed since Jackson had left. His father had become termanally ill, he'd become a deputy at the station, meanwhile he'd written and programmed his own software to help beef up the computer security at the station. Stiles had had a lot of successes, despite there being a missing part of him somewhere out there in the world. On many levels, he still wished Jackson was there with him, that he'd been able to join in on those achievements as Stiles had reached them.

As he turned to walk away, a familiar Stiles could sense a pair of eyes on his back. A familiar presence was in the area, and he spun quickly. "Jackson?" He questioned, though his look of excitement quickly diminished when he turned to face none other than Derek Hale.

"Surprised?" Derek wondered, standing there as broody as he possibly could, or at least, that's what Stiles thought.

Anger filled Stiles' gut and he wanted nothing more than to spill so many curse words and obscene names in Derek's direction. However, before he could, Derek took a step towards him and closed some of the distance between them.

"Before you start, let me apologize." Derek was quick to interrupt all of Stiles' furious thoughts.

Confusion poured over the brunette's face. "Why the hell would you be apologizing? You should feel like shit for taking away the one person in my life who I trusted the most." Stiles' anger was bitter at the end of his words, a bite of venom in his tone.

Derek remained silent for a moment, taking in the rage Stiles was venting. "I do." He replied.

"Good." Stiles returned.

"There's something you should know, Stiles." Derek's voice was softer than Stiles remembered it to be.

"Yeah? What?" He was short in his responses, not wishing to be around Derek Hale any longer than he had to be.

Carefully, Derek withdrew an envelope from his jacket and handed it over to Stiles. "This is for you." Pausing, he watched as Stiles retrieved the unmarked envelope. "It's from Jackson. He wanted me to tell you that he was always on your side."

The words stung more than he could bear. Stiles lashed out in anger and hurled a punch right at Derek's face. As his fist connected with Derek's sturdy jaw, he huffed out a furious breath. "Don't you dare say those words." Stiles thought Derek had a lot of nerve.

The older male grabbed the side of his face as a throbbing of pain shot through his jaw. Damn, that kid had more of a swing than he'd ever believed. "Sorry." He muttered out and without another thought, he was gone.

"Bastard." Stiles mumbled as he grit his teeth. Still, he had to wonder just what was in the envelope and if it would explain Jackson's departure and his disappearance further.

Ripping open the envelope, he pulled out a neatly tucked away letter. As he unfolded it with each crease, he noted the blank page until he reached the middle. What looked to be a sentence in Japanese sat in the middle of the otherwise vacant page. What the hell was he suppsed to do with this? Sighing, he wracked he brain for an answer, but that was when it hit him like a train. It _had_ to mean something.

That's when Stiles realized, Jackson was telling him something more than just whatever this meant. Was he back? Was he finally home? Without another thought, Stiles raced towards the subway, knowing exactly where he had to go. As fast as his legs could possibly carry him, he arrived to the subway out of breath, taking a quick seat wherever possible. The entire ride through town, he kept staring at the paper, a solitary finger tracing the etched symbols as if to memorize every stroke of them.

Upon leaving the subway, he hurried towards the sushi restaurant, though it had closed down a few weeks prior to receiving this letter from Jackson. As Stiles rounded the corner of ninth street, where the restaurant used to be located, he quickly halted in his stride as he spotted the familiar back of the blonde male standing in wait near the old entrance of the building. Was it _really_ him? Was he _really_ there?

Hesitation flooded his legs and he suddenly was unable to move. Still, his lips trembled but he was able to question the other's appearance. "Jackson? Is it really- are you..?" Stiles muttered out, almost in a whisper.

Jackson spun to face Stiles, his own face littered with stuble and his eyes rather tired in appearance. Stiles assumed he hadn't slept in a few days. "It is." He answered, a little apprehension in his own words. Carefully, he took a small step forward, inching towards the brunette.

Stiles couldn't hold back as well as Jackson could and he sped towards the muscular male, throwing his arms around him without another question in the back of his mind. "You ass. You ass!" Stiles cried briefly, clinging onto Jackson like there was no tomorrow. He burried his face into the blonde's shoulder, tears streaming down his face in joy yet also sorrow. He'd spent too long missing Jackson Whittemore and this jerk had the nerve to write him a letter and send Derek Hale to go fetch him.

Jackson returned the hug, his tired lips forming a small smirk at Stiles' response. "Did you like that I sent Derek to find you?"

"Hell no! You're such an ass, Jackson Whittemore." Stiles answered, though affection resided behind his words.

Jackson pulled away slowly before he brought his hands to Stiles' face and kissed him tenderly. He needed Stiles to know that he missed him, that he cared about him still after all the years, that he loved him and he hoped that one kiss would convey those intense emotions. After a moment passed, he finally parted from his old flame and grinned at the brunette.

Stiles grinned back but he was quick to hand Jackson the letter. "Not only that, but you send me some cryptic message that I can't read. What's up with that? And since when does Derek Hale take orders from you?"

Jackson's eyes flashed ruby in color, indicating his higher ranking within the pack. "Since I'm his new Alpha." He retorted, a smug look appearing on his face before it melted back into a softer appearance. "This isn't just some cryptic message."

"Then what does it mean?"

"I couldn't say 'I'm always on your side' in Japanese so I settled for the next best thing." Jackson explained, glancing down at the sheet of folded paper and the text on the page. Looking up, he peered back at Stiles with a loving gaze. "Itsumo watashi no kokoro no naka ni imasu." He recited in Japanese. "It means, always in my heart."


End file.
